Strikeforce prospect Cory Devela meets UFC vet Terry Martin Sept. 20

http://mmajunkie.comRising Strikeforce middleweight contender Cory Devela (9-2) will go for his eighth straight victory when he meets former UFC and Affliction fighter Terry Martin (17-5) Sept. 20 at “Strikeforce at the Mansion II.”

Strikeforce officially announced the fight on Tuesday.

The middleweight bout is latest booking for the upcoming event, which takes place at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, Calif.

During his recent two-year winning streak, Devela, a 24-year-old submission specialist, picked up victories over UFC veterans Lodune Sincaid and Joe Riggs (though Riggs injured his back in the bout). He most recently defeated Dan Molin via unanimous decision at an April Xtreme Cage Combat event in Nevada.

Devela is a student of veteran fighter Dennis Hallman and attributes much of his success to “Superman.”

“Dennis runs practice almost like a wrestling practice, and I’ve been a wrestler since elementary school, so I learned the same way he teaches,” Devela stated in a press release. “There’s a lot of live activity whether we’re wrestling or sparring kickboxing.

“People underestimate my wrestling. Joe Riggs did and got thrown because of that. I’m going to do the same thing to Terry if he wants to wrestle with me.”

The well-traveled fighter will now meet another UFC veteran in Martin, a stand-up fighter who recently made — and won — his professional-boxing debut. After a 16-2 start to his MMA career, the 27-year-old Martin has since loss three of his past four fights, which included a recent knockout defeat to Vitor Belfort at Affliction’s debut show in July.

However, despite the recent setbacks, the hard-hitting Martin, who will make his Strikeforce debut, represents one of Devela’s toughest tests to date.

The Latest

In this week’s Trading Shots, Danny Downes and Ben Fowlkes look at Ronda Rousey’s 34-second victory over Bethe Correia at UFC 190 and try to put it into terms that capture the moment without getting swept away by it.

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?